Ian Harper
"Insanity is underrated." Lieutenant Ian Harper is the Second in Command of the United Revolutionary Front, also known as the Insurrection. Ruthless, highly skilled and insane, Harper is the primary antagonist of Phase One: Genesis and is described by the Director as one of the largest threats to Project Freelancer. Despite facing multiple Freelancers in each encounter, Harper has always walked out alive and shares a past with Agent California, who loathes Harper to the point of obsession and whom Harper has a variety of feelings for. Personality Perhaps one of the most unnerving things about Ian, besides the raging insanity, is the lack of reaction to pain he seems to have. There is no doubt that he feels the pain of a bullet wound or a knife, but instead of flinching away from it, he laughs about it, to the point of people thinking he enjoys it. And who knows? Maybe he actually does. There is no point in trying to guess what goes through Ian's head, as his insane tendencies make him one of the most unpredictable and dangerous enemies the Freelancers have faced before. Causing other people pain and generally messing with their emotional psyche is a hobby of his, as demonstrated most notably in Chapter 60: Almost Compromised, when Ian taunted California about his past relations with him. Cal and Ian have a shadowy past that was more revealed in Chapter 100: Fire on the Mountain. Though it is still unknown exactly what happened between the two, it is clear that Harper has a one-sided desire for Cal, yet still taunts and goads the agent at every turn. However he does display perverse signs of affection for Cal, such as the disbelief in him having a girlfriend, and caressing Cal's hand with his mouth and tongue. In addition, he also eludes to previous sexual encounters with Cal in Chapter 100: Fire on the Mountain. Cal's response to this is understandable anger, and an undercurrent of fear, showing that despite Ian's often amused temperament, he's still a dangerous individual. Perhaps the thing that makes him most dangerous is his lack of regard to personal safety. An enemy you can count on to retreat due to being outnumbered or injured is an enemy you can defeat, but Ian has no such restrictions in combat. To him, "Life is the greatest game of all," and is to be treated as such. If it's not fun, it's not worth the time or effort to pursue. Messing with the Freelancers, and Cal in particular, entertains him greatly, despite the risk of incredible bodily harm. This absolute confidence in his abilities and himself almost always comes across as arrogance. This confidence in the face of the Freelancers is what confounds and unnerves many of the 'Lancers when they meet him. Relationships California There is no doubt that the most extensive and volatile relationship Ian has is with Agent California. Any time Cal sees Ian, he disobeys orders to directly engage him, and Ian welcomes the chance to interract with his former ally. While Cal does nothing but throw anger and hate towards him, this doesn't seem to affect Ian in the least, and if anything encourages him. When fighting Cal, Ian mostly toys with the more intense agent, taunting him about the past and of things they'd done in the past together. While none of the other Freelancers know exactly what was done, Ian has hinted at sexual interactions, which seems to both shame and anger Cal at the same time. Ian's mere presence shakes Cal to his core, which, again, Harper enjoys greatly. The only thing more amusing than teasing Cal himself is watching the reactions his teammates give off when in the same area as the pair. Arkansas Ark trusts the insane Innie no further than he could throw him (without use of explosive payload), but requires Harper for his connections to the old URF forces. While Harper has no plans to ursurp Ark's leadership, he finds the limits the former Freelancer places upon his killing nearly as tedious as having to run the Crimson Sun himself. Skills and Abilities CQC Specialist Ian is at his most deadly in close quarters, though he is perfectly capable of taking down enemies with a variety of weapons. He is commonly known for using a Bowie knife and a pistol, but does use SMGs as well. Though he and Cal share the same skill set, Ian almost always comes out on top, though the fights are close and often brutal. He also prefers slowly terminating his opponents as opposed to outright killing them, and when he does kill them he gets up close and personal to do it. Merciless Interrogation Alaska is good at interrogation, but Ian is just as good, if not better, at it. He'll do whatever it takes to either get information out of his unfortunate victim, or just torture someone for pure enjoyment. He has a variety of methods for getting what he wants, with no boundaries as to what he will or won't do. This aspect of Ian's repertoire of skills is probably his most disturbing, as he knows exactly how to break the human mind and body in the most efficient ways possible. His lack of empathy for other people makes it so he has no regrets for the things he does, nor does he care about the long term emotional and physical repercussions of his actions. Dead on Target Though he prefers fighting in close quarters, Ian does not suffer any true penalties when engaging targets from a distance. He's as well-trained as you'd expect any UNSC soldier to be, and much like Colorado, he can adapt to most any kind of weapon given to him. Not only is he a marksman, but once Ian has his focus on something, he will not relent until he has accomplished what he has set out to do, whether it be killing an enemy, or obtaining a valuable resource. This obsessive nature has, unfortunately, focused on Cal mostly, but without a doubt there are other things Ian strives to obtain or accomplish. Painful Fun To Ian, pain is fun. Whether it's him being caused pain or him bestowing pain upon other people, he loves causing it, and loves feeling it. Ian displays no negative emotions when being attacked and brutally assaulted, instead finding it appropriate to joke around and enjoy himself. No Freelancer yet has managed to get past his high tolerance for pain. Themes Trivia *Ian lost his right arm after Cal blew up a grenade in close proximity to him *The initial idea for Ian Harper stemmed from Evan Rosier, the insane villain from the Sacrifices Arc fanfic *When first creating Ian, his author, Bramblestar, had designed him to be sane, calm, and not so obsessed. However after thinking about it, he decided that Ian had to be more dangerous and have more of an edge, thus the Harper in the fic was created Category:Characters Category:Insurrection Category:CQC Specialist